Borno market bomb blast – Over 50 feared killed, 68 injured

Borno market bomb blast – Over 50 people including 16 members of the Vigilante Youth, popularly known as Civilian JTF were killed, while about 68 persons were seriously injured when a Peugeot 505 saloon car carrying charcoal but laden with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) exploded around the busy Elkanemi Round -About, Monday Market and about 40 metres away from the office of the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Maiduguri, the Borno state Capital on Tuesday at about 7am.

People gather to look at a burnt vehicle following a bomb explosion that rocked the busiest roundabout near the crowded Monday Market in Maiduguri, Borno State, on July 1, 2014. A truck exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people on July 1 in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the latest attack in a city repeatedly hit by Boko Haram Islamists.

Although, the Chairman of the Vigilante Youth a.k.a Civilian JTF attached to Sector 3, Mallam Iliya Saidu while briefing Governor Kashim Shettima said, his men were able to identify 9 of his members that died in the blast, but the Chairman of Monday Market Traders Association, Alhaji Bukar Jere while giving the breakdown of the number of casualty to the Governor when he visited the scene insisted that 16 Civilian JTF were among the dozens of people killed.

Borno market bomb blast – Over 50 feared killed, 68 injured

Briefing, Governor Kashim Shettima at the scene of the blast, the Manager Maiduguri Monday market said “16 civilian JTF were among those killed in the blast, while 69 sustained serious injuries”.

He said 4 vehicle and four tricycles, popularly called ‘ KEKE NAPEP’ were burnt in the blast, adding that the incident also affected 49 shops and Wares displayed by the petty traders on the road side.